A weak and ineffective agreement but at least a small and fragile lifeline for continued negotiations.

Friends of the Earth has been working for a global agreement that will keep global average temperature increases to below two degrees - and is fair for developing countries that are on the front-line of climate change but have done least to cause.

The world needed strong and determined action to tackle climate change in Cancun - the outcome is a weak and ineffective agreement but at least it gives us gives us a small and fragile lifeline.Andy Atkins, Executive Director, Friends of the Earth

Dangerous moves
Although the agreement in Cancun keeps the negotiating process alive, rich countries have pulled the world away from international agreements where the emissions targets are based on science.

They have moved towards replacing this with a hazardous system where targets can be decided on the whim of politicians. This puts the world in an extremely dangerous place if we want to have any chance of avoiding temperature rises above two degrees.

The agreement in Cancun increases the possibilities for introducing massive loopholes into the already weak targets through increasing carbon markets. These create an escape hatch for rich countries to avoid making their fair share of the deep emissions cuts we now urgently need.
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Friends of the Earth is concerned that we now have very little time left to avoid catastrophic climate change.
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Full article here: http://www.foe.co.uk/news/cancun_final_analysis_26431.html

Actually, I think that it is now too late to stop catasptrophic temperature increases. Whilst exerting downward pressure on emmissions, the only real solutions now lie in attempting to live with the muych hotter world.

The consequences of that include:
Africa, Australia, and most other places in the half of the planet nearest the Equator will become uninhabitable.
Europe, USA, China and other countries at similat latitudes will become marginal - edge of Sahara style.
Habitable places will be both poles, Siberia, Canada etc.
That of course implies that some 90% of the popultaion will die, reducing human population on the planet to below 1 billion.
The open question is whether 'civilisation' will survive this onslaught. Unlikely.